That Saying About Wishes
by YoYoYoYams
Summary: One of those "Avatar Universe meets Real World" fics. That just about sums it up.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** - DISCLAIMER - I do not own anything having anything to do with Avatar: The Last Airbender, except maybe the DVD's and an Aang key-chain. I also do not have permission from the writers to be making this story, but who does? ;-) I do however own and take full custody of my character, _**Emily**_. I also do not own the episode, "The Southern Air Temple."

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* * *

~EMILY~**

I always wished that something absolutely amazing would happen to me. Something like in the hundreds upon hundreds of books I read. I wanted to dive in the pool one day and notice my legs turning into a mermaid's tail. Or jump in the air onto to find I can fly around a couple hundred feet off the ground. Or lift my arm one day and find that water bends at my command.

For I am also an avid "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fan. Or at least I was. But now...let's just say that things are...different now. Anyway, I _always_ used to watch it with my best friend in the entire world, Victoria. We would sit in front of the TV for hours on end, not noticing the time until we looked out the window to see that the sun had left us, watching episode upon glorious episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. And then, of course, there were the epic, slow-motion waterbending battles in our swimming pools. Yeah, we pretty much spent our lives revolving around that show. But, let me tell you, it was no waste! Knowing every character's depth and background came in pretty handy when..._it_ happened.

But, anyway, I'm getting off topic. Sometimes I just drift away, thinking of how things used to be... Not to say that I don't love my life now; I do! But sometimes...I just wish I could relive those times...just for a day. Oh, sorry, I'm drifting again.

So, point of things is, I always wished that something wonderful and magical would occur. I wanted to have the adventures that all of my favorite storybook or movie characters would get. Like Frodo, or Sarah from Labyrinth, or Harry Potter, or any of those people! I wished desperately with all my being that these things would happen to me. But you know that saying about wishes? "Be careful what you wish for"? Yeah, believe me when I say that that saying has got some truth to it. I mean...my wish ended up good in the end, and I love my life now, as I said. But...I still wish I'd been more careful when I'd made it...

So...here comes the explanation. Or, at least, my best attempt. It was long ago, so it's tough to remember. Let me see...I was...sleeping over at Victoria's! That's it! Yes, I was at Victoria's. After spending virtually our entire evening watching most of Book 1, we finally decided to hit the hay.

Every so often, my desperate wish would hit me hard and it would be all I could think about. Tonight was one of those times.

I laid my head down on my pillow, and looked sideways out the window at the stars. _'Please let something amazing happen tomorrow,'_ I pleaded, _'I don't care about specifics. Just, whoever is listening, make it magical! I don't care what, just...' _my eyelids closed slowly, _'amazing...' _I began drifting into slumber, _'and magical.'_ and just like that, I was fast asleep.

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* * *

~ZHAO~**

I still lay there, staring after my chronic enemy as he left with his uncle, probably feeling _so damn smart_. I thought I'd one-upped him. I always one-up him! He was always so easy to beat! This time, however, he had not only defeated me in combat, but his "esteemed" uncle scolded me! How dare he?

Well, Zhao, _this_ has certainly been a banner day. I hate that kid.

Something about him, today...he seemed different somehow. Different from when his sorry butt had left the Fire Nation. I couldn't quite place it, but...I knew that was why he'd beaten me today.

Of course, he hadn't _really_ beaten me. He didn't even have the guts to take the final shot. While that wouldn't have been too fun to me, I would have liked to been defeated properly. He's such a disgrace to the Fire Nation. I wished so badly to take that ship from him. His ship and crew; he didn't deserve them. Not one bit. If he went around telling people he was the Fire Prince with his fancy ship and crew, and then made a _fool _of himself wherever he went...people would lose their respect for the Fire Nation.

No...no, not "respect." They probably don't respect us. But that doesn't matter. If the other nations find out what an idiot the Fire Prince is, they will lose their **fear** of us. And that was what mattered. I needed something. Something to help me get ahead. Get ahead to a position in which I could take care of this nuisance, Zuko.

I laid my head down on my pillow, and looked sideways out the window at the stars. _'Please let something helpful happen tomorrow,'_ I pleaded, _'I don't care about specifics. Just, whoever is listening, make it powerful! I don't care what, just...' _my eyelids closed slowly, _'helpful...' _I began drifting into slumber, _'and powerful.'_ and just like that, I was fast asleep.

* * *

~WAN SHI TONG~

The Great Knowledge Spirit had much to do that night. There were wishers that needed attending to. The all-knowing owl had heard their wishes, of course, and he knew that these wishes were not wise. He knew that one of these wishes was not thought over, was not expected to come true. However, the girl that had made it needed to know that there is always a chance that your wishes will be heard and answered. He also knew that the other wish wasn't thought over. It was only made in anger and frustration, and had no chance of coming true. So, he had decided to grant these crude wishers their foolish wishes. He had never cared much for humans, so he didn't particularly care of their personal consequences. Only that they learned their lesson about wishing.

So, during the one night that both wishers had unknowingly called out to him, Wan Shi Tong visited each in their dreams. He started with the more difficult: getting to the real world. Being the Spirit of Knowledge, he not only knew all within his own universe, but that of the three-dimensional world. He was the only one in the two-dimensional world that knew of the other; not even the other Spirits knew. Only him.

So he began with the girl, Emily. Then he would get back to his own universe, which wasn't nearly as difficult. It was not easy to add another dimension to yourself, but taking one away was simple. Once he was back, he would visit the Fire Nation Commander, Zhao. These two wishers would soon see the power of wishing, and its many downsides. This would teach them not abuse that power that everyone had, but the wise did not use.

Wan Shi Tong came into each of the two dreams, and gave the wishers the same message.

"I will grant your wish." he said plainly, "You will be granted your seemingly most desperate wish. But I warn you that it will not be what you think. However, you have lost your choice in this matter. You have already made your foolish wish. And it will be granted."

Emily had seemed to think he looked familiar, but he knew that they didn't quite recognize him. Zhao had, of course, easily recognized him from the time he had sneaked into the Library and Wan Shi Tong had found him and tried to apprehend him.

So, he went back to his own Library feeling as satisfied as one who never smiles can feel. He granted their wishes, and waited for them to wake up so he could enjoy their confusion, anger, fear, and foolishness.

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**A/N - **This looked longer in OpenOffice.


	2. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Yeah, yeah, we all hate it when you see an update after, like, forever but it turns out to be an author's note. I'M SORRY, but it's important.**_  
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**_ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL MY READERS ON MY PROFILE PAGE  
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	3. Chapter 2

**A/N** - Sorry it took so long, but there ya go.

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~EMILY~

I woke up, wondering still about my strange dream and if it had come true. I soon found my answer when I opened her eyes to see everything around me looked completely animated! I closed my eyes again, shook my head, but it was the same when I opened my eyes. I was SO confused, and really scared. And even more scared when I saw who was lying on the large bed in the room I was in. There he was, pointy sideburns and all: Commander Zhao! Since he was still asleep, I tried to contain the scream I felt coming. But as I raised my hand up to cover my mouth, I saw instead cartoon-version of my hand. Freaking out, I fearfully found a mirror, and looked. What I saw was a two-dimensional 5 foot 8 girl with short brown hair and glasses, dressed in average everyday _**Water Tribe **_clothes! I stepped back in alarm, and cringed when I heard the rustle on the bed.

I whipped around looking for somewhere to hide. Out the door? No, it would be too noisy and take too long. A closet? No, there isn't one.

And by that time, I heard an angry masculine voice demand, "Who are you? What are you doing in here?" At that, I figured there was no point in being quiet, and he was all the way over on the bed, so I bolted for the door. However, the crank to open it was a little rusty, and in the few seconds it took me to unstuck it, Zhao was gripping my right upper arm, hard.

"Ow! Ouch, let go!" I cried.

"How did you get in here? You are obviously Water Tribe, and have no business here!" he said angrily.

"I don't know how I got here! I was sleeping at my friend's house, and I woke up by the door just a minute before you did!" I said quickly, trying to get him to release his killer grip.

"Lying peasant!" he yelled. He opened the door and I saw that two Fire Nation guards were standing in front of it. Oh well, at least I know I wouldn't have made it out anyway...

Zhao shoved me to the guards and said, "Put this girl in a prison cell. I'll be over to interrogate her later!" By now I had gotten back on my feet, which I had been knocked off of from the force of Zhao's shoving, and was trying to pull away from the two guards that each had an arm of mine. They roughly started dragging me away from Zhao's room, to one of the prison cells in the Fire Nation base I was probably in.

Interrogation. Lovely.

* * *

~ZHAO~

I closed the door, frustratedly rubbing my temples. Who was this Water Tribe girl? And how did she get into **my **quarters? I shook my head, and started getting dressed. (Until now, all I had on, besides underclothing, was a pair of stretchy pants that I liked to sleep in.) I now wondered about my dream. The owl, I knew, was Wan Shi Tong. So, that explained how he knew my wish, but...was this an attempt to grant it? Wan Shi Tong hated humans; why would he grant a human's wish? I had already dismissed it as being just a dream the second I saw the owl. Dreams with Spirits aren't just dreams, they are messages from the Spirit World.

Once I had gotten some food in me, I went down to the dungeons of the Fire Nation Naval Base I had been stationed in. The girl was in the nearest cell, and a guard was walking away with an old cup and plate. Apparently she'd been fed too. I walked right up to the bars of the prison cell. She looked up, and when she saw me, fear flooded into her face. Good. They were always easier to handle if they were afraid of me. They should be anyway.

"How did you get into this Base?" I asked angrily.

"I told you, I don't know!" she cried.

I scoffed and said, "Oh, so you just appeared out of thin air?"

"YES!" she said, clearly exasperated, "I told you earlier, I was just sleeping over my friend's house-"

"You mean your friend's **igloo**?" I sneered, interrupting her.

This was meant to just be an insult to her poor culture, but she looked at me confusedly. "What do you...? OH!" She looked down at her clothes, then said, "You think I'm Water Tribe! No, no I'm not from the Water Tribe."

"Then why are you wearing their clothes?" I asked, getting a little tired of this girl's mysteriousness.

She sighed, and said, "Well, as I was saying, I was sleeping over my friend's house. And when I went to sleep, well...I, uh, made a wish. Anyway, when I was sleeping, I dreamed of this huge owl who told me that my wish would be granted. And, then, I woke up this morning lying just inside of your bedroom door."

I had frozen at 'huge owl' and my eyes widened. "A-A very large, tall, black owl with a small, curved beak?" I asked slowly. Her eyes shot open wide also.

"Yeah...How did you know?" she asked.

"Because I also made a wish and dreamed the same thing..." Normally I wouldn't be telling such important things to a prisoner, but I was lost in thought. Then I looked up abruptly and said, "The owl was a Spirit named Wan Shi Tong."

"Wan Shi Tong? The Great Knowledge Spirit?" she gasped. I nodded, and she sighed thoughtfully. "What does it mean...?" she mused.

I had a theory. That maybe our wishes were the same, she wanted to defeat someone as well, so Wan Shi Tong had brought us together. "What was your wish, girl?" I asked.

She looked up, and sighed again. "I suppose I'll have to tell you. I...Well I just wanted something amazing to happen to me. Something that never really happens, something magical."

". . ." This wasn't the same wish that I'd made. But...her wish had been granted. People don't get transported to Fire Nation bases from...Where was she from? "Where have you come from?"

The girl hesitated, them said, "Sir, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"You are to address me as Commander Zhao or just Commander," I pointed out, then demanded, "Now, **tell me**!" This girl was getting way too casual with me!

She cowered back slightly and cried, "Alright, alright! I'll tell you! Well...I'm not _from_ here. Not just the Fire Nation, but...your entire world. I'm from...well it's like a whole difference universe." She kept hesitating and talking awkwardly. And I could see why: she was telling a tremendous lie!

"You filthy liar!" I spat, "Just tell me where you're from, I'm not going to hurt you for it!"

"But I'm telling the truth! I'm from another world where nobody bends the elements, we have to let them control ourselves! And there are thousands and thousands of nations much smaller than yours! And we've got machines and technology that can do advanced things."

I turned away disgustedly. I said to a nearby guard, "Let her have no food for the rest of the day; only water at mealtimes."

"What? No, I really am telling the truth! Please!" the girl pleaded as I left the dungeons to think over why she was brought here from...most likely the Earth Kingdom. If she was from the Fire Nation, she would have said so to avoid being a war prisoner. Or she may just be Water Tribe and was lying when she told me she wasn't. However, I suspected that she was telling the truth about her dream. She seemed as confused about it as I was.

* * *

~EMILY~

Great. My first...I don't know...half hour in the Avatar universe, and I've already screwed myself out of not only my freedom, but my sustenance as well. This was just...awesome.

I sat in the jail cell, hugging my knees. What was I going to do? What _**could**_ I do? I tried telling Zhao the truth, and he didn't believe me! It's not like a blame him. If someone invaded my room while I was sleeping and proceeded to tell me they were from and alternate universe, I'd be pretty pissed too. I huffed a sigh.

Maybe I'm still dreaming...Maybe I only _dreamed_ of waking up... I squeezed my eyes shut tight, pinched myself, and opened my eyes, still looking at the cartoon metal bars. Yeah, did I really expect that to work? No.

Why was I here anyway? How on Earth did I get here? _"The owl was a Spirit named Wan Shi Tong." _That's right. Wan Shi Tong, He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things. He visited me in my dreams, and granted my wish.

My wish. My most desperate wish. My "most desperate" wish. My stupid wish.

Remembering my dream, I realized that Wan Shi Tong had known from the beginning what I knew now. This wish was an rash mistake. He knew it, and had granted my wish to teach me a lesson.

Had Zhao also made a wish? He had seemed to be much less hostile when I mentioned the giant owl. He seemed to know what I was talking about. Perhaps he, too, made a wish. Heh, as if he's not having a worse enough day! He'll soon find whatever foolish wish of his has come true!

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**A/N** - Once again, it turned out shorter on Fanfic than it looked in OpenOffice. =( Sorry. I'll try to do better in the next chapter.


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